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The Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is pretty much good to go

We've been stalking the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk for months, and now we're getting our best look yet at the devilishly powerful sport utility vehicle. From a distance, the JGC looks almost stately in black. Look closer and you see the SRT badges and the big brakes. Look past the wrappings and you see large air intakes in the lower fascia. All of this reinforces the Trackhawk's performance pedigree, which will be anchored with the 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi Hellcat V8. It's rated at 707 horsepower in the Charger and Challenger Hellcats. The Jeep will use four-wheel drive. These up-close images show off the Trackhawk's simple design. Like the Dodge Hellcats, Jeep appears to be letting the power and capability stand on their own. Previously, we've only seen the Trackhawk from a distance or in blurry video. The Trackhawk's arrival comes as Fiat Chrysler expands Jeep's global presence. The company is increasingly looking to its venerable off-road brand for sales volume, image building, and profits as it re-aligns its car business and looks for potential partners. The Trackhawk looks nearly production ready, and we expect it to go on sale in 2017. Also, don't confuse it with the Trailhawk, which is a trim level you can buy on the 2017 Grand Cherokee. Related Video: Featured Gallery Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk Spy Shots View 15 Photos Image Credit: KGP Photography Design/Style Spy Photos Jeep SUV Off-Road Vehicles Performance

Dream Cruising in three Jeep concept cars

Those of you that have attended the yearly Woodward Dream Cruise, know that the rolling car show is many things to many people. A chance to pull the Corvette out of the garage; a time to ogle rare models you've never yet seen in the metal; a weekend for drinking a cold one with friends and simply taking in the festivities. But for our roving editor Brandon Turkus, this year was a chance to cruise in some concept Jeeps that most people will never see, let alone drive. As Turkus aptly points out from the start, Woodward isn't exactly Moab. But wheeling the off-roaders is nevertheless an eye-opening experience; they may not be upcoming products, but these Jeeps tease out a lot we'd like to see from the brand in the future. You can find these mini Short Cut reviews above, and below, but here's a recap of what Turkus got to drive. Jeep Wrangler Staff Car Concept This one's a proper salute to the Jeep military service vehicles of yore. It's an open-air concept based on the four-door Wrangler, with tons of heritage design cues. It looks old, but we promise, it's totally new. It's got basic steel wheels, a stretched canvas roof, bench seats, a painted steel floor, a built-in cooler that accommodates up to 85 cans, and is painted in an iconic Sandstorm color. When the going gets tough, the Staff Car can handle it with aplomb, thanks to the Jeep Performance Parts two-inch lift kit, Fox shocks, Dana 44 axles, and the Wrangler's 3.6-liter V6. Jeep Chief Concept This Wrangler-based concept is an excellent tribute to the classic, fullsize Jeep Cherokee from the 1970s. It's painted in a vintage Ocean Blue color, with a white, "French Bread" roof. There's also a custom razor grille (something made famous on the original Wagoneer), removable sides, chrome bumpers, and classic-looking, 17-inch wheels. Inside, there's surfer-inspired pink, blue, and white cloth mixed with leather trim, with more fun details like a Rosewood front passenger grab handle and tiki-look shift handle. Of course, this thing looks to be truly capable off-road, too, with a two-inch lift kit, Fox shocks, Dana 44 axles at the front and rear, and a 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 underhood. Jeep Wrangler Africa A take on the Wrangler Unlimited, painted in Desert Tan, and powered by a 2.8-liter diesel engine. It looks killer, with 17-inch, body-colored steel wheels wrapped in 35-inch BF Goodrich Mud Terrain tires. There's a two-inch lift kit, Dana 44 axles, and Fox shocks.

Jeep Cherokee faces on-sale delay

A report in The Wall Street Journal looks at some of the obstacles to the 2014 Jeep Cherokee that go beyond its mootable yet "very contemporary" looks, almost all of them based on Fiat's financial position. Starting with that sheetmetal, in defense of it SRT president Ralph Gilles and Jeep design head Mark Allen said they wanted to "make sure the design still looks modern five years from now."
The WSJ piece doesn't cite longevity as a factor, instead saying that its features originated in a design for an Alfa Romeo, the transformation into a Jeep design meant allowing Chrysler get it to market more quickly and save "hundreds of millions of dollars" in engineering.
The need for Fiat to save money while it weathers the European situation has cut budgets for development, engineering and the pace of retooling the Toledo, Ohio plant to build the Cherokee. In a familiar case of snowballing at work, among the effects will be pushing back the Cherokee's volume sales date and delaying updates to some of Chrysler's other products.